


Asking you to be color brave

by Two_Divided_by_Zero



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Yusuke has chromesthesia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 03:45:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12313125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Two_Divided_by_Zero/pseuds/Two_Divided_by_Zero
Summary: Tired of feeling alone, Yusuke offers Akira his world.Sequel toLife in color





	Asking you to be color brave

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from the quote, "I'm asking you not to be color blind, but to be color brave."
> 
> A short follow up where Yusuke has chromesthesia and does his best to explain it to his wonderful boyfriend (even when he isn't entirely certain what it is).

Opening up to Akira about what he heard was one part liberating and infinite parts terrifying. In a way, Yusuke felt as though it was like seeing his own private facet of the world. Who else was fortunate enough to wake up to a veritable rainbow?

(One of Madarame’s former students actually had one that would fall off his dresser and roll around on the ground, _blaring_ this..., _sound_ that caused an explosion of red behind his eyelids.)

On the other hand, he ran the risk of confirming to this wonderful boy that yes, he was in fact every bit as eccentric as that one classmate had claimed him to be. While those words had stung a bit more than he had let on, they weren’t exactly new. The unfortunate truth was that the art community was not nearly as inclusive as one might think; other pupils and even Madarame himself wasted no time in telling him to “discard those delusions of his”.

Kamu Susano’o saw this inner conflict and spoke from his soul. “To deny the world you see is to deny oneself. Are you certain repression is the correct route, child?”

No, no it certainly wasn't. 

And so, as with most of the problems he'd faced in his life, Yusuke picked up a paint brush. 

He'd started with various shades of yellow: buttercup, honey, saffron and lemon. There were ribbons of white for ‘joy’ and undertones of pale pink for ‘hope’. Every color on his pallet was as warm and soft as being with Akira made him feel.

As his work began to take shape over time, Yusuke began to wonder exactly _how_ he should go about handling this. Should he just bring it along on his next trip to LeBlanc? Or would it be more appropriate to invite Akira to somewhere like the park to gift it? Perhaps it would make an appropriate anniversary gift?

The answer, it turns out, was far simpler.

Likely meaning to drag his boyfriend out for a much-needed meal, a warm Thursday afternoon found Akira surprising Yusuke in his studio. “Wow, you didn't tell me you were working on something new.”

Years of working in the crowded atelier helped steel Yusuke's nerves to the point that his hand never faltered despite how startled he was. Slowly, cautiously, he turned around to face Akira and sigh. “It seems as though the concept of a surprise is lost on you.”

Akira waved his hand in dismissal, as though to say ‘yeah yeah’. Once again, his eyes were drawn to the partially finished piece. When he spoke again, his voice was oddly far away sounding. “It's amazing so far, though I don't think I've ever seen you use such a soft color palette…”

This was it, the perfect segue! 

“That's because this is what I see in your voice, Akira. To me, this-” he gestured to the canvas “-is how your voice sounds.”

(Akira had gone worryingly silent and Yusuke clenched his fist around his brush and remind himself that _Akira is different, Akira is different and you know that-!_ )

Now that Yusuke had started talking, the floodgates had been opened. “You see, it isn't that I _see_ sounds, per se; it's more that I hear something and it just _feels_ a certain color. For instance, I've always been rather fond of koto music for how _pink_ it is! It isn't just music either; people's voices have their own color and sometimes even individual words!”

Akira remained troublingly quiet, but the artist chose to remain cautiously hopeful.

Yusuke gestured to the white in his piece. “To me, the word ‘joy' always seemed white to me. This is to represent how happy meeting you has made me. That is just an example; there are others of course. ‘Hope’, ‘future’, ‘love’...”

Love…

Love was crimson and gold. It was a milky white that was nigh translucent under strands of night. It was the sunset - or maybe the sunrise? - drifting through the tree branches. It was...

He digressed.

“S-so you see, I kept this work a secret in hopes of surprising you and giving you some insight into my creative process.”

Mercifully having run out of words (for the time being), all Yusuke could do was wait for Akira's response to his sudden...explanation.

After what felt like an hour, he finally spoke.

“I always heard artists see the world differently,” Akira said reverently while stroking Yusuke's cheek, “but I always thought it was in the every-moment-is-a-scene sort of way.”

Yusuke could help but lean into the gentle caress. Thank goodness Akira's hand was there; he felt so light he very well might float right out if his body. “Every moment _does_ have the potential to be extraordinary.”

Akira's hand trembled from his chuckles. “Oh trust me, I'm well aware!”

He took three or so steps backwards, leaving his boyfriend feeling cold and bereft of that gentle touch, before holding his hands up in a familiar gesture. 

Framed within Akira's fingers, Yusuke mused that this must be how he looks. “What do you see?”

Akira hummed before leaning forward to peck the tip of his nose. “My charming boyfriend, for one!”

Another chuckle before Akira dropped his arms and adopted a more wistful expression. “To be honest, I'm a little jealous. To be able to experience the world in another way… you have an extraordinary gift, Yusuke.”

“...A ‘gift’?”

A nod and then Akira was leaning forward to kiss him breathless and Yusuke wondered if there was any noise in the world that would sound like the stars he saw every time this happened.

**Author's Note:**

> After all the lovely comments on Life in Color, I really felt inspired to write another snippet of their life together! I'm so happy you all seemed to enjoy it (adopting the headcanon as well makes me so happy!) and it was AMAZING to know someone actually has chromesthesia! 
> 
> (Reading those comments was nearly the death of me; you were all so kind and encouraging!)
> 
> I hope this doesn't disappoint and thank you everyone for reading!


End file.
